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Barberries are drought-tolerant, small- to medium-sized shrubs that have really gained a foothold on the Prairies in the last decade. With their colourful foliage ranging from rich golden to variegated pink and burgundy — depending on the variety — they are wonderful additions to any garden.

Now while barberries are pretty, they are best admired without touching. The first time that I plunged my hand into the centre of a barberry I ended up leaving a small blood donation, thanks to the bush’s sharp thorns. Had I used a little common sense and paid attention to the fact that barberries have a ‘barb’ in their common name, perhaps I wouldn’t have had to bandage my bleeding fingers.

The barbs may have evolved to protect the plants from animals, but one could argue that perhaps they are a little payback to humans, considering our somewhat stormy history with barberries.

Its History

Common barberry was introduced from Europe to North America back in the 1700s and quickly became a popular ornamental in yards right across the northern United States and Canada. But near the turn of the 20th century, it was discovered to have a very dark side.

Barberries harboured a devastating disease called wheat rust that, over the years, contributed to the destruction of millions of acres of wheat across the North American continent. Wheat rust was incapable of infecting wheat plants without first reproducing on barberry leaves and then being dispersed on air currents to wheat plants.

Knowing this critical linkage between barberry plants and wheat rust, the American government initiated a massive barberry eradication program in the early 1900s. By 1917, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta followed suit and put barberries on the prohibited-weed list in an attempt to save our own wheat crops.

In the end, the strategy worked, and thanks to an eradication program that spanned several decades — along with a concerted effort to breed wheat rust-resistant varieties — this devastating disease was under control.

Today, the barberry eradication program of the early 1900s might seem at odds with the fact the we can purchase and grow ornamental barberries in our yards.

But the reason that we can enjoy garden barberries today is because the varieties that we plant in our yards (Berberis thunbergii) are incapable of harbouring wheat rust, unlike the common barberry (Berberis vulgaris) that caused so much furor a century ago.

Best Features

Thorns aren’t the barberry’s best feature — unless grazing critters are a concern. Rather, it’s the assortment of varieties with their strikingly colourful and variegated foliage that is the primary reason for planting these ornamentals.

Among my two favourite varieties is Rose Glow, which develops rich, burgundy foliage at the base of the plant, and transforms to pink with white leaves at the top. My other favourite is golden-yellow Sunsation, which looks fabulous mixed with Rose Glow or any other small red shrubs or flowers.

And don’t forget that barberries are also great as small deciduous hedges or for edging large beds.

Degree of Difficulty: easy

Barberries, in general, are very winter hardy, and enjoy full sun. They can tolerate various sunlight exposures although their foliage tends to be a little sparse in spots that receive too little light. Avoid wet, soggy soils or boggy areas, and always plant barberries into soils that are well drained.

Light applications of fertilizer in the spring and early summer are plenty to keep to barriers full and lush.

How Perfect Is It?

Barberries are great, tough, shrubs but are best embraced visually rather than physically. And if you really do need to prune, wear tough, leather gloves.

Back in the 1980s, many nursery stock growers lamented the fact that ornamental barberries couldn’t be sold in Canada due to their linkage with the sordid history of the common barberry. Thankfully, the garden varieties have been exonerated as wheat rust hosts and we now have some great barberries to select for the landscape.

Now, if the plant breeders could just find a way to make the barbs a little less pointy, I would be eternally grateful.

Jim Hole is an owner of Hole’s Greenhouse in St. Albert. Follow him at facebook.com/HolesGreenhouses. For previous columns by Jim Hole, go to edmontonjournal.com/hole

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